


The Disappearances on G Street

by Seagrain



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2020-02-28 23:30:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18766540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seagrain/pseuds/Seagrain
Summary: After a series of mysterious disappearances in Los Santos... Mini, Tyler, Anthony, Brian, and Lui must try their hardest to find the rest of the gang. Who is causing them, or rather "what" when will they find their lost friends, and what perils will lay in their path.





	1. Where to Begin

**Author's Note:**

> Know that Mini is the Main character in this one. (Easy to give him a specific type of background) but I couldn't find his name from the characters listings, but enjoy anyways.

(A/N) So how do we begin... Maybe like this...(END A/N)

 

 

October 31, 2003 3PM Last Period Of School 3rd Grade

 

 

Mini was in his least favorite section of the day... Math It wasn't anything hard, just some simple subtraction questions.

99-80=19 Easy.

_Where was Kryoz..._

100-55=45

_For that fact... where was his dad, their teacher... and his mom... the principal._

_62-32=30_

_Why was he the only one who noticed their absence._

 

The bell finally tolled... signifying the end of the day. 

 

He ran to the bus area, waiting patiently as his substitute hurried to keep up with the small children, yelling at them to "Slow Down and wait."  

It came to no avail, and the children all began to rush quicker, forcing the sub out of breath as she stumbled to keep pace...

The children were already at the bus stop, sitting quietly on the red brick wall, watching the older high school kids rush past, eager to go home and think about taxes or whatever they may do in their free time....

He had never been a very communicative child.

He stayed to himself...

And was accused of having a mental disability, like a learning curve or something along those lines....

And being a mute was fairly easy... He liked having friends... and people to hang out with... but he didn't like to speak for the fear of being insensitive, or wrong.

So he easily figured out his social anxiety problem, Monachopsis and Opia. Monachopsis, (the subtle but persistent feeling of being out of place) and Opia. (The ambiguous intensity of looking someone in the eye, which can feel simultaneously invasive and vulnerable) 

Each is an anxiety induced emotion that is propelled based off of the strength of the anxiety.

 

This didn’t affect him personally, as he had learned to push away such things. 

 

But that didn’t stop him from feeling guilty or stupid when he made a mistake. 

 

Like looking someone in the eye for too long, or being near his friends in a new aerea of school or the parking lot, or the playground.

 

The perfect example of a lost kid, stuck in his own mind…

 

The perfect Introvert…

 

He became distant, and grew away from his friends…

 

He avoided things…  his teachers, his friends, his parents, and even his older brother, the only one who truly listened. 

 

He was in a rut… so he retreated to his imagination, back to a land filled with castles and bowing kings, beautiful queens, ranches, horses, and exquisitely scaled and majestic as ever,  and peace and prosperity all throughout... his safe place… full of new adventure as the world was never ending…

He started his journey with a bang, flying from the top of the atmosphere at thousands of miles an hour, watching with weary eyes as he neared the ground. But those eyes were pushing past his hatred for humanity's action

 

He suddenly became anxious, and waited for his time of landing to come, but it never did, because before he could pull himself out of his daydream on his own, he was shaken awake, frightened with a cold sweat... running down his small form…

 

He looked up to see the smile… yet worry… of an older kid… maybe just a few years, but still older. 

 

“Hey man… you missed your stop ya know… are you ok… you look kinda shaken up… everything alright.”

The question flooded his mind… filling him with doubt and confusion. 

 

He wasn’t sure if anyone had noticed them talking… “is anyone watching… would someone try to listen in to what they were saying… what is happening… why is he being so nice… why did he wake me up….. Silence… I don’t deserve this kind treatment, He’s being too nice… WHAT is GOING ON. GIVE ME SILENCE...”

 

It screamed in his head… trying to remind him of his true place as a human… the bottom of the chain… the weakest of the weak… the truest example of an introvert…

 

His feet moved with a mind of their own… tripping and stumbling over fallen backpacks, misplaced feet, angry legs, and curious children...

Each one seemingly a brick... building a wall higher and higher to hinder his escape.

An arm wrapped around him, tugging him backwards, securing him in place. 

*Darkness*

(Tyler POV) 

Mini collapsed onto the floor, falling face first from his originally secure position on the grey seat. 

"Hey... Craig... Hello... are you awake... MR. GERARD... CRAIG PASSED OUT." 

The large graying man lumbered over to the young children... wiping his face before sitting the child on the floor back onto the seat. "Just make sure he doesn't fall over."

"Yessir." 

(Mini) 

A darkness swept over him... making him sure of his position.

He had had a panic attack before... but it had never happened like this. 

Last time it was just some simple hyperventilation and hallucination. 

But never had he blacked out. 

When he was sitting there... waiting among the darkness... hearing the beating of his own heart slow, and feeling the race in his mind come to an end, he could hear it... everything. An echo sounded out, and it was seemingly that nice guy from before, "Hey... Craig... Hello... are you awake." This was followed by his yell for their bus driver, Mr. Gerard, a nice old man who had cared a lot for the children. Not soon after, he felt arms around and on his shoulder, with some kind of surface beneath his legs and back, but was stopped short when he was interrupted by a shrill shriek of a wheel, the hum of an engine, and two arms on him, with something that felt like a shoulder beneath him. The scene was laid out. He was being carried off of the bus, through a yard, and into a home, all the while being called out to by the voice of that kid. "Hey Craig... You awake..." From inside the kitchen... "Craig honey... are you home..." "He's home... but we have a slight problem." His mom questioningly rounded the corner of the fridge... but almost collapsed when she saw Craig in his limp state, almost lifeless... besides the shallow breathing... and slight rattle in his voice... he was okay. "Sorry hun... but what is your name..." "Me... I'm Tyler....

"Well, I can't thank you enough for bringing him in, I was cooking dinner, and getting worried that he might not come home... so thank you."

"Oh it's no problem... I tried to wake him up so he could get off the bus, but he was really daydreaming or something... almost gone."

"Well anyways, thanks for bringing him home and trying to do so safely, sorry if he was a burden."

"Oh not at all, he's rather light, and I wasn't gonna just let him sit there and get left on the bus, lord knows that Mr. Gerard has enough problems as it is... ya know his wife and child went missing a few days ago."

"Oh, well that's sad, I really liked her, have rhey found any clues yet..."

"No ma'am, plus they are keeping a lot of the details under lock and key... but my mom is a police officer, so I hear a little bit about it every now and then."

A small wave washed over him as he tried to regain his sense of mind, trying to bring himself back, but his feeble attempt failed as he was pushed farther and and farther away from conciousness, but that didn't stop the conversation above from continuing.

"So, Where do ya live hun, I knownit has gotten a bit late, so I'll take ya home."

"Oh, don't worry about it, we live a few miles away, so I'll be just fine to walk home."

"Now hun, its the middle of April, and it's only gonna get hotter, so let's go, cause I'm not going to let you have a heat stroke."

The car beeped outside as his mom hit the "unlock" key in her remote, jostling it back into her pocket. 

"Let's go."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look up the terms Monachopsis and Opia, you will understand his feeling then.


	2. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh... facts can be useful... but that doesn't stop them from hurting.

A calm quiet swept over the car as they followed the winding road. 

 

Mini had since then woken up, showing sentience by playing small card games in the back with Tyler. 

 

First, Go-Fish, then Black-Jack, then Trash, then Spades, and they ended on his favorite, a quiet competition…

 

Of Solitaire… 

 

Mini had been playing this game on his own for years, and new what move to make every time. 

B 4  
It was almost a sixth sense for him, having such an innate ability to tell the future, but mainly, it was by his innate sense of perception. 

Z  
His favorite TV show, “Psych,” was all about a man who used his incredible sense of perception and memory, to tell the future, and solve crimes. 

1  
This was obviously a great influence on him, as he would have his mother ask him questions about people inside of a restaurant, or maybe a grocery store, asking him things like "how many people here have hats-or glasses-or both."

He trained himself to take in every detail... listening and absorbing as much as possible, but there would always be little things that he wouldn't take like the probability of someone different walking in, which might change a number, or maybe a worker had come in, so there was always some little factor that he forgot to add in, but over the years, he became better...

On his most recent trip to Disneyland, before the top of a rollercoaster, his mom asked him to look south, and tell her how many people he saw at the hotdog, and pizza stands.

So he tried.

His brain began to race as he could see just over the peak of coaster, its metal railings and rubber sidings glaring back at him, making his anxiety spike, but he simply couldn't deny his own training... a chance to be right, truly right, for the first time. 

He started with looking at the individual number of people that were there, 4 from the hotdog, 7 at the pizza.

So he used a few simple calculations to add another few factors in.

"It's 1:16 PM, meaning that it's lunch hours, so if he was roght, another two people should join both, taking the number from 11, to 15. 

Of course, around 100 people will be getting off rides all around the park, and because the South Side of the park housed the BIGGEST AND SCARIEST rides, meaning that only 2 percent would be getting off of the rides and WANT to eat. 

Nothing else seemed to be out of place, so he looked at her when the ride ended, saying, "17 people."

His mother looked at him with a surprised look, raising her eyebrows and shuffling her left hand... her dominant hand, an obvious sign of nervousness. She quickly noticed his staring at her, and flashed a small, and dismissive smile. It didn't stick as she swallowed a lump in her throat, being enveloped deep into thought once again. They walked towards the stands, and Mini had no idea just how right he was. He looked around, finding the eyes of 15 people with his. But when he counted again, that was the problem, it was only 15. His mother looked at him with understanding eyes, catching his saddening gaze with her own, finding that her son didn't understand. "Son, you do realize, that just now... You and I made 17...." His gaze lifted with a new enthusiasm, his mind raced with hundreds of questions, which went unnoticed by his mother. He swirled, before his mother quickly gathered his attention by snapping in front of his white and lifeless eyes. "Hey... hey, I understand, but I can't lose ya... Not like your father" Mini watched her with sad eyes as she put on a fake smile. It had been just two years since they had gotten divorced, but it still hung heavy on both of their hearts. ---------- Tyler gave quick instructions on the way to his home, which Mini's mother internalized, leaving the two in the back to quietly play their card games. The quiet became deafening, and even though it was only a few miles away, it was a very long drive, woth winding twisting roads. The silence became too much to bear, so Mini's mother made the executive decision to play some music. It was a strange mixture of Christian rock, and normal pop. It wasn't a very desirable mix, but it was fine, as long as it filled the silence. Not too long after this, a white brick house came into view. It had long overarching balconies that stretched around the house on both the first and second floors. They had a strange dark red, almost deep velvet color to it, but it somehow accented the white very well. There were long, dark curtains covering the large windows, amd a wall on the second floor made entirely of glass. It was an awe inspiring sight, and Craigs mother simply couldn't deny her chance to simply say, "wow." And leave it at that. Tyler looked at the two in silence, his gaze narrowing, and hands becoming tense. There was a light on the second floor that quickly flickered... then disappeared... Mini and Tyler both exited the car, Tyler because it was his home... but Mini because he felt bad about Tyler being home so late after his bus route had already come and gone... "So, how long have you guys been living here." It was a dumb and unnecessary question, but it at least gained an answer. "Well my dad and mom moved here around 16 years ago, just after my older brother was born..." Tyler looked at the house with obvious disgust, glancing from window to window... balcony to balcony... But Tyler looked at Mini through his peripheral, and caught a glimpse of Mini staring at his obvious scowl. He quickly hid it away, before promptly approaching the door, and trying the doorknob... discovered that the door was locked... The knocker at the top was a stunning gold, banded with a red strap... Tyler grabbed it roughly, and without warning, slapped the small item against the doors mahogany make up... Before too long... A woman with beautiful flowing hair, the color of blood itself, stepped through, opening the door and meeting Mini's gaze. "Well who is this Tyler." "Mom, this is Craig." "Oh, so this is the little spaz who passed out on the bus... am I right." Mini froze at that word, "spaz." It hurt his head, and made him promptly glare at the woman. She returned it, but looked with a slight sense of sympathy. "Oh... I might want to clarify, My daughter walked through the door complaining to her friends about how she "had to wait for her spaz of a brother to stop 'making out' with the anxiety spaz."" Shs looked at him straightfaced, showing just how truthful she was being. It pained him less, but it still stung. Just then, a shrill scream came from the stairwell on the opposite side of what seemed to be a large living room. "OMG OMG OMG... MOOOOOOOOM, JARED JUST BROKE UP WITH TIFFANY." The older sister came running down the stairs wirh her friends, seemingly the one previously called "Tiffany." "Oh... look." She glared at Mini from across the living room, making her obvious annoyance even more prevalent as she accentifed her next choice of words. "So look who decided to show up with his NEW BOYFRIEND." "Shut the fuck up Brianna." "Tyler... watch your language." "Then tell Brianna to watch hers." "Shes older than you, that kind of language is more... 'acceptable' for me, as long as its from HER... not you." Mini turned to see the sister wink, stick her tongue out, and run back up the stairs with her friend. "Anyways, so... Craig... was it. Would you like a tour of the home..." Mini looked at her, expressionless, catching her subtle, yet relaxed movements.

"Oh no ma'am, my mom is waiting on me in the car, so I have to get going, but I want to say sorry for keeping Tyler so long, he was just trying to help me."

She looked back in surprise, "Oh no honey... don't worry about it at all... we don't start dinner till later, and I only ask that he is here for dinner."

"Ok... well, I have to get going... but I'll see you guys later."

He turned around, but turned his head in order to see them waving goodbye, but he noticed something else, when he rurned, Tyler's mother hit him promptly on the head, scolding him quickly... but changed her expression only to be met by Mini's strained eyes. 

Tyler looked away from them both... hiding the obvious tears that were quickly flooding his face... because he knew what was coming.

(Perspective shift- Tyler... we will return to Mini soon)

Tyler turned around, facing opposite that of the doorway now spilling warm sunlight wrap around him...

Slowly, the door shut...

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU... YA CUNT."

She put an opposing emphasis on the T.

She quieted down quickly, lowering her voice.

Slapping him across the face saying, "Dont you ever DARE associate yourself with children like THAT."

Tyler lived among one of the richest families in Los Santos, but that didn't stop him from having to deal with more hardships than anyone should ever have to.

He was a foster child after all...

"Why do you think it so necessary to ruin our families good reputation."

She slapped him again, this time with her other hand, the ringed one. 

"Dont dare disgrace me like that ever again... ever."

She took rhat moment of pause to slap him again, backhanded... with the rings.

They quickly left their individual marks, leaving him bruised and quickly scarred. 

A loud bang sounded throughout the house, and  
Another person walked through the door.

"Holy shit man... what did they do to you."

Tylers eyes were deceiving him, but his ears weren't.

The older brother of the household entered the room, sympathetic eyes landing on Tyler.

"What the fuck do you want."

"Just shut the fuck up."

Scotty replied to the scornful mother...

Scott had moved out just a year prior, but it had felt more like 10... 

Because Scott was more of a parent than his own foster parents... or in other cases... his adoptive parents.

"Alrighty, grab your shit and let's go."

His steely eyes were glued to the hyperventilating Tyler....

"Diane... leave him alone... and get out of here."

"First off, THIS IS MY HOUSE YA LITTLE SHIT."

"Then leave the room."

Scotty replied calmly.

He quickly leaned down to Tyler, whispering, "I'm not going to let her keep this crap up... run upstairs, grab as much of your stuff as you can, mainly clothes, but pack a few devices or somerhing, like your ipod and chargers."

The frightened Tyler stood up on a wall, and when he regained his footing... sprinted towards the stairs. 

A disgruntled Brianne began to descend, quickly catching sight of Tyler's erratic behavior.

"Yo... what's going on..."

She looked downstairs to see her older brother fighting with their mom.

Tyler ran past her, shoving open his door and grabbing his traveling suitcase. 

She quickly understood the situation, and followed Tyler... "Listen, I know I've acted like an ass for a long time now, but I did that to make this easier."

"Me and Scott have talked about getting you out of here for a while, so this was our plan, so I'm sorry, but we've got to get you going."

(Perspective shift- Mini)

The car ride home was once again... silent...

The yard of their beloved abode was in direct sight... when the silence was broken...

"So Craig... I love you... but I've got to tell you something."

She went quiet a moment, taking her time pulling into the concrete driveway...

"So, if you will remember... two weeks ago... just before we went to Disney... I went to the doctor."

"Yes..."

The silence filled the car again...

"Well, they ran a few tests, and found something....... strange... in my blood..."

Mini looked at her in confusion..

"They expected it to be nothing just a few months ago, but I forced them to do a test, because I just knew that something was off..."

"They did a test called a CBC, which stands for a "Complete Blood Count."

"It is used to detect..... malfunctions... in the blood."

"Well, when they tested further, they found an irregularity, my WBC was off."

"They tested me further, and found that I had stage four Leukemia......... a.k.a. Blood Cancer."


	3. What Just Happened...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also ... in this chapter... Las Vegas is considered to be Los Santos here... only because it was a little bit more convenient for this specific story... thanks...

Mini's world fell apart….. 

His mom had cancer…

Stage four… 

Why…

How…

What had caused her to come under rule by this sickness…

His mother watched him fall apart…

Understanding eyes laying flatly on her face… emotionless and cold… despising existence… despising truth…

She looked back up… only to watch as her son fell face first into the dash of the car… passing out into the cold hard and gray plastic that sat in front of his now shaking form, watching him move in and out of consciousness… catching his own eyes with her golden browns… 

She was so beautiful… but her existence was becoming cursed and forsaken… plagued by the sickness of life… and caught in its inescapable grasp.

The sky was a light cerulean… 

The grass was an emerald green…

The trees were swaying in the wind…

But their existence was shattering around them.

Piece by piece…

Feather by feather… 

Cloud by cloud…

Heart by heart…

Before they were nothing but empty husks… left inside of a void of black… --------- 

Narrator Segment (Lol Cause why not.)   
It had been many long years since that moment… the moment he died inside… the moment he realized the true cruelty of the world… and just how dangerous and unfair it really was… Tyler went off to a different school… and Mini continued to go to the academy with his friends… the happenings here all take place during the transition from Juniors to Seniors… Mini never even told his friends about that moment of his youth...

Mini was still asleep… a deep crimson and velvet blanket wrapped around his once restless form… thrown haphazardly to the side by his kicking and fighting against the unseen force of the night…

His ceiling was brightly lit… resembling that of the stars truly outside of his simple roof… shining brighter… but dimmed by the ungodly distance between them.

A soft wind blew thoroughly through the opened window… the sounds of the restless streets coming to life in the dark night… resembling that of his old home in New York… the place where his family once was whole and happy…

Besides the rather low population of Los Santos, it still had the same NY vibe…

A comfort in the harder times of life… but a reminder of the worst ones back in NY. 

His brain began to examine the room around him… it was full of a bright red wallpaper… followed by posters from his favorite games and movies…

Terminator… Mario… Tetris… Top Gun… and many others… 

A small toy chest sat in the corner of the room… hundreds of dead and never once recharged batteries littering the bottom.

His dresser full of old clothes and different video games and controllers sat directly opposite that of the toy chest.

His bed was positioned directly in the middle of the two, but on the farthest side of the room.

His door was closed and dark… leaving him in nothing but darkness… only opposed by the light of the moon. 

His sleep was interrupted by a slight rumble from inside the room… resembling something of metal slamming against metal… then it was followed….. by a word… "open."

And it was loud… but just enough to disrupt his sleep and "peace."

He shot up in bed… almost falling off as he was close to the side and had been kicking the wall for hours… shown by how they still stung…

The sound began again… that same metal texture ringing in his still groggy ears… and then another word. "The"

He ignored it… thinking of it as nothing more than something scratching inside the toy chest…

It rang again… but it's pitch had changed… drastically. "Metal."

It had lowered… and resembled a much more chaotic tone… 

He slowly moved his cold left foot onto the plush carpet… well kept and perfectly clean… 

His right foot had gotten tangled up inside of the blanket… but it was warm… 

The differences in temperature was strange… but once again… he thought nothing of it, and began his slow pace towards the chest… 

He passed by a few outlying toys… an old doll his older sister once had, a toddler toy that he had never thrown out or cared about, a small microphone thing, and a little metal block… that one was a true mystery… because when flipped on one side… it clicked… and if you turned it another way… it would click again… but with a different pitch.

He guessed that it had something to do with music or something like that… but it had always been a mystery… as it was something that was built by his great-great-grandfather. 

He continued his walk… eyeing the chest with curiosity.

As he neared… the metal sound rang again… and it was louder… so he knew that he was closer… 

The carpet he was on now turned from a purplish gray, to a reddish black… the mixtures showing well against the beaming moonlight coming from the open window…

The walls then changed to the same… matching his previous change.

The clouds outside began their march across the sky… streaking the room with black and white stripes… creating a new eminence in the room… a thick aura surrounding his curious form. 

He curled his fingers around the cold plastic… not expecting to have something to return the pressure he put on it. 

He lifted it the top… snatching it up with a fierce motion. 

It did nothing…

It opened…

But nothing happened. 

Maybe it was just his imagination…

Then it happened again…

That foul ringing noise resounded… followed by another word. "Box."

Filling both his ears, and trapping him in his own room… 

This alone made him sure…..

Sure that it wasn't JUST his imagination… 

Sure that he wasn't crazy…

He opened the box again… discovering a small cylinder… 

It rang… producing that noise… but this time… 

It hurt… it shook his arm…

And then he woke up.

His hand was on his alarm clock… making him understand what little he remembered from his dream… 

It had said, "open the metal box."

But why.

It was strange… and didn't make much sense, as he had attempted to do it hundreds of times… but it never opened… no matter what he did… his arm still buzzed from the sensation...

So why should he care...

He didn't…

He left his room in a hurry… as it was still a school day… 

He checked his mom's room… checking to see if her alarm was on… she didn't start work for another 3 hours… so he decided to let her sleep…

He made their breakfast… leaving a note on the door of the microwave for her… 

He got dressed in his normal school attire… 

He had always hated the uniforms… but at least he was secure on what to wear… and didn't have to second guess himself.

But he always had a little something to set himself out from everyone… a small red bowtie.

It had been given to him at a young age… coming from his now dead grandfather… it was made however… by his dead grandmother… the thing was originally a gift to his grandfather, from his grandmother…

It was made out of a soft satin… with a golden dyed cotton lining.

It was a sight for sore eyes… as it had aged… the white inside becoming yellowed and grayed. His older brother had always disregarded the thing… saying that it was ugly and made him want to puke… but Mini knew that it was the final relic of an important person in everyone's life… especially seeing how he never met his grandma. 

He wore it proudly… ignoring the rude and unnecessary stares… denying the hate and bullying he received…

He walked outside to be met by his best friend, Scotty… or Scott for short.

He had known him all his life… making his presence an obvious comfort in the still air of the cool morning…

Scott's girlfriend was next to him… her name was Krissy.

She was short… and sweet… never really had a bad word to say to anyone else… and stayed to herself most times… she was very funny… and made everyone happy, and always found a way to fill the empty space with laughter. Scott though...

was different.

He never said anything… unless he was around Mini or Krissy... admittedly it was weird… but he accepted it.

He had never learned why… but it was fine… as long as he didn't go mute or something… Marcel had already taken that role. 

Anthony finally showed his face though… wearing a normal black shirt with some kind of text on it… it was indecipherable due to its use of another language… maybe….. Chinese… or Japanese.

Brian was out sick today… but he was supposed to show up anyways… as today was the time that they would have their bi-annual summer meeting. His Irish accent was growing a little weaker… he had only joined the group a year prior… and “America” was getting in his head...

Delirious… or Mini-Jon came strolling by… his own signature Hockey mask attached tightly… his dark hair just barely peeking through the sides and back of his head. 

The nickname came from his rather small… but bulky… stature…

As well as his seemingly doppelganger-like appearance in relation to John. 

Not only that… his name was Jonathan… so it made sense. 

Brock walked down the street… his signature tank top and horrible blue jean shorts like a beacon to his existence. 

He had never cared about the dress codes… but he always changed before school ACTUALLY started… taking the extra 45 minutes to change into the proper school attire… and clean the tips of his hair. 

He was a funny guy… but he had his flaws… 

His mother died 4 years ago from a drug overdose…

And his dad… he had been in jail for 6 years… for some… unmentionable behavior.

They did know that he had a younger brother… a smaller little guy named Lui.

He was a sweetheart… and only talked to a few members of their little group.

He liked them though… but took a particular interest in the mysterious one in the group… 

Vanoss.

No one knew his REAL name… all they knew is that he preferred to go by Vanoss. 

Because of Lui's strange face… nothing bad that is… he just kinda looked like a monkey… 

And he happened to like bananas… and due to their long bus rides and crazy conversations

Vanoss, right after he joined the group in the 4th grade, named them the BBS, or the "Banana Bus Squad."

It was a strange name at the time… but it grew to be much more of an inside joke as they got older… only revealing it to newer members of the group. Anthony had been sick the following week…. but no one had seen Kryoz in months.

John had never been very… mysterious… but this was new… 

He had always told them if he was ok if he didn't show up… or sick… or something…

But for the past month…… there had been nothing. 

There were many missing posters up… each one a different call out… John's own sign had been posted just a week prior… making them wonder what had happened to everyone…

They had talked to his mom yesterday… but she said that the only thing left behind from his room was a simple wooden ship…

It made no sense… but it had 4 small engravings on it. B4Z1

It was strange… and made them wonder where it came from… because even his own mother knew that that had never been there… she did buy the thing after all. 

She grieved deeply… having one of her sisters run away at the age of 12… and never seeing her again.

They couldn't worry about it right then… as it would be stupid to worry themselves over it… the school year was almost over… they would look then… it was only two more days afterall.

Brock looked at Mini with a special interest… making it known as he simply grabbed his shoulder saying, "what's up bro."

It was such a simple question… but it held a lot of weight. 

He realized that he would have to tell then about his mom, and Tyler, his dream, and the plan for the next few days. 

It put a new weight on his heart… appearing in the form of peer pressure…

But that was the thing huh… he wasn't being peer pressured… but it still made him stiffen up as much attention was coming his way…

Scotty slowly walked over with Krissy… looking him in the eyes for the longest time… making sure that the worry in them was enough to be seen by Mini… and Mini only. 

Marcel was already on his way towards him… making his famous, "are you ok" signs. 

They were easy to call out… and Marcel wasn't deaf… so he simply spoke.

"We'll all talk when we get to lunch today… but it's gonna take some time… seeing as how none of you ride the bus HOME with me."

Everyone accepted that… even though Brock and Marcel in particular had some rather choice words about him dodging the whole ordeal. 

But it would all be worth it later… plus, he had to mentally prepare himself for the bombard of questions that he expected to come from the conversation. 

The bus couldn't have come slower. 

The signature yellow peeked over the adjacent hills… its red and orange flashing lights becoming the most prevalent thing in the mid morning smog. 

He didn't mind it though… as it was always very serene out here… and there was never much traffic.

His friends were closeby, and his mom was always by his side. 

The bus pulled up slowly… it's door opened…. Slowly…… and then it started it's trek again… barreling down the street… Slowly.

The faces of many individuals were missing… John, Sarah, Mallory, Barry, Lauren….. and Suni/Sam.

He had known her since they were children… making it clear that he liked her… but she always seemed to be oblivious. 

She… like Kry… had disappeared… but not as recent.

It was a mysterious thing… the disappearances.

They all happened one day after the other…

First John…

Now Sami…

It could be any one of them next… 

However… no one had been taken in a week… and normally… a person was taken every day… so it was a rather strange occurrence…

These kidnappings hadn’t spread to other areas… and stayed mainly in their town… so they couldn’t see a reason as to why it was happening like this NOW.

Vanoss sat in the seat adjacent to him… making his presence known… but keeping silent…

Delirious... or Jonathan… sat behind him… grabbing the Mute Marcel from the aisle… continuing their previous conversation in sign language…

Lui came out from his seat in the front… switching to Vanoss’s seat… looking him in the eye.... Beginning their conversation… 

Anthony was being silent… sitting in his solitary corner of the bus… looking out of the window with his earbuds in… he looked like a really sappy, corny movie…

Brock came forth with his pants half-way on… beginning the change from signature tank-top, to boring gray… sitting closeby to the group… but using his space to change with the little time that he had… considering how the bus had come late… meaning that he couldn’t change during school.

Scott and Krissy made their way down the aisle… Krissy looking Scott over a thousand times… watching his mannerisms… keeping his mood in check.

Scott was simply tired… and wanted some sleep…

His insomnia had obviously gotten worse over the last few days… keeping him up at night… making him regret not listening and not taking some time to relax. 

They walked through… sitting in the very back of the bus… not being suspicious… it was simply quieter back there. 

They had suffered at this awful prep-school for 11 years… 315 days a year… with only two days left in this one before they were technically considered seniors. 

They made up a large portion of their class… the class of twenty-twenty… 

They had this same seating arrangement for all these years… the only change being Krissy’s addition to the group… and her settlement beside Scott on the seat. 

It made everyone pretty upset for a while… but they all became perfectly accepting of the new arrangement… especially after she turned out to be such a cool and vital member of the group.

His mind wandered to other subjects as the conversations of the morning continued on…

Leading him to be tapped on the shoulder with a slight, “Hey… come on man… let’s go…” followed by a sweet smile from an obviously stressed and worried Krissy. 

“Yeah… ok…”

The bus had stopped in the lot… allowing children to get off… it then made its way to the adjacent building… allowing the High-Schoolers a quicker entrance into the school.

Breakfast had been done and over-with… and most teachers were conversing in the halls… waiting on the morning announcements… some were passing out yesterday’s papers… thankfully… their teacher was out sick for the day… making one of the final day’s much easier… Scotty and Himself made their way to the class with Marcel and Delirious right behind them… Brian and Nogla should have been right behind them… but Nogla was out sick today… he had come down with something yesterday… so he stayed home… but everyone knew that he would be here soon… just taking his medicine and all… he would just suffer through it for the day. 

The class… just like to bus… was devoid of much diversity… only two or three people outside of the group inside… the rest of the group headed to their separate classes… Lui was dropped off in the other building… joining his Middle School/Junior High school friends… his own little group… now known as the Misfits hanging out by the outside railing… He wasn’t truly a member of the group… he didn’t even consider HIMSELF to be a part of them… not at all… 

They were simply easy to hang around… but at heart... he was still a member of the BBS. 

Delirious… just before entering the class, got a text from Nogla… telling him to meet him in the bathroom… he showed the text to the guys… and departed silently…

They continued their way to their seats… leaving Del to do his own thing… 

Before Mini could even put his backpack down… a small flash came from the hallway… followed by a muffled scream… and silence… 

Nogla rounded the corner with guilt in his eyes and a frown on his face…

Mini shot out of the room in mere seconds… dragging Nogla back into the hallway… only to see Delirious strapped to the back of a truck… rounding the corner… and disappearing out of sight…   
\----------------  
“NOGLA WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT… WHERE ARE THEY TAKING JON.” 

Mini stared a hole through him… making his anger prevalent as he held Nogla against the wall… 

The teacher stepped back… leaving the two to their quarrel…

Mini let him fall to the floor harshly… ignoring the voices of his friends around him… telling him to stop…

He ran out of the school building’s open hallway… he sprinted towards the gate… followed on his heels by Brian and Marcel… Krissy and Scott… as well as Anthony were still just running out of the building… after hearing the commotion…

They ran fast… following the route that Mini had seen the truck take before it disappeared… 

Krissy and the others finally caught up… 

And as they rounded the corner… they found the truck… Anthony cut his eyes toward it… taking careful note about the plate number… might need it for later… but it was turning off to the adjacent interstate… so they knew that they had lost him… he could be going anywhere at this point… Del however… wasn’t on the back of the truck… so what happened to him… was he in the back of the truck… in the bed… 

Who knows… 

A sharp pitched bang resounded from behind them… narrowly missing Mini’s leg… but hitting Anthony in his raised left hand…

Mini turned his head… catching Nogla with a raised gun… aiming for Mini… his face twisted with terror… the fear evident in his eyes. 

“What the fuck is WRONG WITH YOU TODAY!”

Behind the corner… one other person showed his face… going completely unnoticed by Nogla… but becoming very evident to the group that he was there… signaling for them to say nothing and look away… he approached Nogla’s left side… far behind his peripheral view… 

As he took a step towards him… a small group of pebbles crunched heavily… a few of them popping under Anthony’s weight. 

Nogla turned his entire body… pointing the gun a little too far to the left to actually hit anything… 

Anthony’s screw up was the right moment to pounce...

He was afraid of conflict… but if it meant saving his friends… he was down for anything.

Scott lunged toward Nogla's tall form… grabbing him by the ankles… and slamming him towards the ground… forcing his arm behind his back in a quick motion… making him drop the gun harshly… 

He forced him against the ground and had Marcel help him hold him in place… ignoring the loud curses and devoid laughter of the now delusional male… his mind swimming in guilt and fury… mixing together into a cruel blend of confusion and grief…

Anthony fell to the floor… he had been holding his breath the entire time… hoping that nothing else would happen to him… and felt guilty after his screw up…

Only realizing what had happened after a spurt of oxygen finally hit his head… 

He stumbled backwards… trying to feel some kind of support…

But fell directly onto his backside… but absorbed most of the pressure with his hands. 

It didn't hit him that he was bleeding until his hands got sticky… mixing with the fresh rain mud rocks and blood… creating a stinky and sticky mixture that clung to his skin. 

It stung… but it was bearable…

Mini jogged over to him… grabbing his arm and lifting him off of the ground… it was a swift motion… and it made that same mixture stick to him… but it didn't matter… as there were much more important matters to take care of…

Delirious was missing… Nogla was a traitor… Anthony was hurt… and if they didn't get back to school soon… they would be screwed. 

It took a little while to register the intensity of the situation… and the adrenaline was finally gone… but that didn't stop Nogla from looking like a maniac… 

His smile finally faded though… and after a little reality check… he passed out… his head had obviously had enough of all the stress and outside influences….

Two hands came down on Mini's shoulders… and who else but Tyler had to show up…

He… being a senior this year… had already graduated… meaning that he was out of school indefinitely… and seeing as how he didn't plan to go to college… he decided to get a job at the local grocery store… and guess that he heard the commotion and came…

The rest of the group… besides Nogla… perked up… looking at the stranger who appeared so suddenly… only seeming to see a connection between Mini and him… no one else recognized him… 

"So… how ya doin' Craig."

He stood there… still shocked by how disorderly the rag-tag group had become in a moment of danger and unrest…

Tyler quickly walked over to Nogla… and moved Marcel, Scotty, and Anthony away from him… 

“So what the hell happened to this guy…”

Anthony slowly regained his balance… grabbing the wall behind him for a little support… before stumbling a bit after standing up to fast… making his head pound in fury…

He quickly spoke up though… taking the words right out of Mini’s mouth…

“Well….. He basically just helped someone kidnap Del… or Jon if you’ve never met him…”

“Why.”

“Don’t really know… we just got to school a few minutes ago… and Jon got a text from Nogla… or David… after a minute or two… we saw a bright flash come from the hallway… followed by some silenced screams… and the grunts of some old guy… then Nogla ran in with the FUCKING GUILT IN HIS FACE…”

Anthony raised his voice at the end… anger a very prevalent theme on his face… something that didn’t show often… unless….. Provoked…

And it showed…

“So… why are all of you here…”

Krissy took the moment to put in her two cents…

“Well… we kinda heard the commotion coming from the bathroom down the hall… so we left the class to see Craig holding Nogla against the wall… screaming… then telling the teacher off.. Followed by a full 15 minutes of sprinting… so Me and the others followed close behind… but we left Nogla… an obvious mistake on our part.”

“Gotcha… sooooooo…… do ya know who took ‘im.”  
“Nope… don’t have a clue… Nogla might… or better… but we still don’t know.”

“So… did ya take the license plate number…”

Anthony… in his confused stupor… was able to pull through… 

“6… T… R… J… 2… 44.”

“Wait what…”

“6TRJ244.”

Everyone looked at him in surprise… glad that he had thought to do it…

“Welp… that settles that…”

“What do you mean…”

“We’re goin’ on a road trip.”

\------------

They interrogated Nogla inside of an empty room in Brian’s house… pressuring him into telling them the truth… 

Nogla was kidnapped overnight… and the only way to get out of it was to show the strange man the locations of all the houses that he knew housed younger people like him… Nogla even as a 6 foot 5 male… still couldn’t escape the man that had captured him so easily…

Of course… everyone was unnerved… as now… that man had access to knowledge about their possible nightly whereabouts. 

Tyler went to a DMV and had them look up the plate number… it was last seen in California… San Francisco to be exact… and being in Los Santos, Nevada… it was around a day and a half drive…

The group decided on two drivers… Tyler… and Brian… both of which had gained their licenses early on… and could easily get them out of trouble. Everyone else had their licenses as well… but they felt more comfortable letting someone else drive… showing their horrible driving skills… Mini volunteered to switch out with one or the other… depending on who he was driving with…

Krissy said the same… and argued with Marcel over the right… meaning that she yelled while he signed… making it a pretty easy fight… considering that if they got pulled over… she would be the only one who could speak…

Marcel took his fate with consideration… understanding Krissy’s point… 

It dawned on everyone that they didn’t know just how long this would take… they could be gone for a month or more… so it was an unpredictable consequence of which they couldn’t avoid… 

This didn’t stop them though… they were deemed old enough to care for themselves… seeing as how they had gone this long without doing anything “Bad” per say. -----

Brian’s Irish accent showed a little more as he said goodbye to his mom… he had no idea how long he would be gone… 

Brock said goodbye to Ms. Cunningham… his current “Mother Figure” and Marcel’s actual Mom… she was kind to “adopt him” into her home as a foster care parent… she would never let them take him away… because she knew what it meant to everyone… to the group… so she fought them off… she was his savior. 

Krissy said goodbye to her mother… but gave her some kind words before she left… “If he touches you again… call me… and if ya can’t call me… beat the fuck out of him… do you understand... “ Krissy gave her mother some sleeping pills and a gun… “put the sleeping pills in his tea… and if he does ANYTHING wrong… you know what to do with this... “ She pushed the pistol towards her… making sure that she had a way to protect herself from the abusive man… who was still… luckily… at work…

Mini walked towards the door with hurt in his eyes and heart… he never expected it to come like this… and not so suddenly… but he got home… and without a thought… walked into his mothers’ room… discovering a body… an empty pill bottle… an empty glass of water… and a not stapled to the back of the door…

“Craig… since day one i’ve loved you… never forget that… you have always been such a strong child… and you know that we’ve been through a lot… but it’s finally come… the tumor became active again… and my immune system hasn’t healed back all the way… and nevertheless… they only gave me a few months to live… i’ve already told your father, he will arrange the funeral… but take some time off… just come visit me whenever you can… I got in contact with him… and he‘s ready to bond the relationship between you two… besides what happened in New York… they told me what my choices were… but I knew that telling you would crush you… take the time to hang out with your friends… because I know that you’ll do ok without me….. After all….. You are surrounded by the friends you love… Sami is ok by the way… I talked to her mother yesterday, so don’t worry about her… bring her with you when you go on the little trip… shes been waiting to talk to you about something… know that i’m not doing this to hurt you… but I couldn’t handle the pain anymore… I love you son… and goodbye…”

His heart had endured so much those past few years… taking care of his mom for years… caring for the house when she couldn’t… cooking when she couldn’t… everything had rested on his shoulders for so long… his brother and sister were with his dad… so it all rested on him… but now… he was free… but empty… but nothing lifted from his shoulders… it fell around his feet… because that life was his world… he was accustomed to it… so… what would he do now… his dad was abusive and evil… his siblings were drug addicts… and that wasn’t a life he planned to live around….. 

A car horn honked loudly outside… followed by Brian and Krissy accidentally yelling at the same time, “Come on Craig.”

It wasn’t often that they called themselves after their real names… seeing as how after Vanoss joined up… Anthony had the bright idea of telling everybody to come up with new nicknames… Brian… accordingly… called himself, “Terroriser.” Anthony became “Panda.” Scott became “407.” Jon became “Delirious.” Marcel became “Basically/Wrk”… never decided between one or the other. John became “Kryoz.”... and Mini became Mini-Ladd… and Sam and Krissy decided to stay as themselves… only periodically calling themselves by a name that they came up with together… and decided to share when they did a team challenge one year at school… and won. 

It was known as “SuniDey.” Not as extravagant as everyone else… but it fit them. 

He left his mom’s room… packed bag in hand… and he grabbed a few more things before he left… his mom’s old phone… her favorite snow globe… and finally… her favorite picture of the family all together… the time when their life was peaceful… 

It took him back… to his childhood days… it was filled with so much emotion as it was something that held the family together… this photo… but before he could begin his little trip down memory lane… a disheveled Marcel walked through the door… obviously tired from his slumped behavior…

He hadn’t expected anyone to come inside… but didn’t care that the steamy tears that rolled down his cheeks still stung… Marcel practically gasped when he saw him… he grabbed his phone… and quickly typed, “is everything ok…?:[“

“Yeah…”

“Don’t lie to me…” 

He quickly scattered his eyes to the left… avoiding further eye contact…

Marcel however… was having none of it.

The note that caused all of it was still dangling from his left hand… fresh on his mind and weighing heavily on his heart… 

Marcel quickly swiped the note… quickly putting his hand over Mini’s mouth before the onslaught of ridicule and hate could ensue… 

He looked Mini in the eyes… giving him the most serious face possible for a mute… and having seen it many times before… he understood what he was trying to do… 

Marcel opened the bound letter… lifting the flap hastily… 

He grabbed the man beside him… sitting him on the couch… himself standing on the side… reading the note in a rather quick pace… 

Mini watched Marcel’s face twist in horror and pity… reading the room… and looking down the hallway… pointing… Mini understood the gesture… reading the disappointment all over his face...

“Yea… she ummm… she’s in her room…”

He looked down at the ground in guilt… just then understanding what that meant…

Marcel picked Mini off the couch… embracing the now slightly sobbing man… and in a single moment of bravery… said his first two words in 9 and a half years…

“I’m Sorry…”

The harsh voice came out craggy and tired… out of practice and strained from un-use. 

“Thanks… but don’t worry about me… I know that she’d be happy to see us on the road… fulfilling her last wish... at least she was sure of her final decision… SHe was my savior… my home… and now my home is gone… my life… is gone… but I’m living out her final wish…”

Marcel went quiet again… typing on his phone… 

“My voice is already worn out… but don’t worry… we’ve gotcha covered… we will tell everyone when we get there… ok… also….. Why didn’t you ever tell us that your mom had cancer…?

He simply couldn’t answer… his lips stayed still… because he truly… didn’t have an answer… and didn’t have one that would be believable in any case…

So he said nothing…

In a final moment of hysteria… he let himself loose as he mourned for his final moments… before becoming the fake-happy… fake-brave… fake-ok self that had existed for years… brought by the weight of the world around him… the worry on his shoulders… the sorrows on his heart… and his childhood left behind… 

Brian honked the horn one last time… this time as a warning… and they left… Mini promising to keep Marcel’s little bought of speech a secret between the two… as that was the first… and possible last time he would speak again… he broke a sacred vow that he made to the most important person in his life.

Mini left the house lights on… leaving a note behind for his family… not a threat… but a promise… simply saying… “I’m leaving….. Goodbye…”

Brian and Marcel entered the truck in “High-Spirits” hiding the fact that they were both in shock and practically dead inside from the world… pushing the fake smiles that he knew so well through… the note slipped out though… inside the car… and in a final bought of indecision… Mini left to go and grab his other bag that he had mistakenly left inside… saying goodbye to his old life…

When he entered the truck again… this time sure of his decision… he looked up to see a disappointed Krissy… Brian… and Anthony… all at the same time making a simple… but clear statement… 

“WHAT THE FUCK MINI…”

The note that once inhabited his left pocket now hung limply from Krissy’s hand…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Contd. later... see yalll...


End file.
